supposing that the planet earth were not a sphere but a gigantic coffee table, how much difference in everyday life would that make?

I’ve slept on a lot of sofas, and let me tell you, the comfortable ones are few and far between. Typically, they’re cheap deadweight. Even the most luxurious-looking sofas are a disappointment when you actually try to sleep on them. I never understand how people can be lax about choosing sofas. I always say—a prejudice on my part, I’m sure—you can tell a lot about a person’s character from his choice of sofa. Sofas constitute a realm inviolate unto themselves. This, however, is something that only those who have grown up sitting on good sofas will appreciate. It’s like growing up...

Note:You can tell a lot about a person's character from their choice of sofa.

To think that each skull once had skin and flesh and was stuffed with gray matter—in varying quantities—teeming with thoughts of food and sex and dominance. All now vanished.

Most human activities are predicated on the assumption that life goes on. If you take that premise away, what is there left?